


Origin of Light I

by GrimmVertigo



Series: Our Light [3]
Category: Destiny (Video Game), Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alternate Universe, DestinyAU, Noctis's origin story, Origin Story
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-28
Updated: 2017-09-28
Packaged: 2019-01-06 16:03:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,202
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12214173
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GrimmVertigo/pseuds/GrimmVertigo
Summary: Destiny!AUThis is the story of how Noctis became a Guardian.





	Origin of Light I

**Author's Note:**

> So this _really_ ran away from me. It wasn't supposed to be this long, or detailed. Oops. 
> 
> Unbeta'd.

When Noctis is chosen by the Traveler to be reborn as a Guardian, he wakes up disoriented, with a pounding headache and spots dancing in front of his eyes. 

He's also immediately in danger. 

Noctis can faintly hear a mechanized voice speaking, probably to him, but his head is literally swimming and he can't make out the words. He sits up with a groan and holds a hand to his head, faintly wondering why, instead of feeling skin and hair beneath his hand, he feels a hard metal instead. 

A voice somewhere in his head tells him he's wearing a helmet. The voice also says it's dangerous, that he needs to get up and get somewhere safe. Noct just groans and squeezes his eyes shut, steeling himself for a moment before shoving himself onto his feet. He staggers a bit, but regains some balance by leaning against the rusted frame of what once was a car. 

There's a tinny tapping against his helmet, like something's hitting him in the head, and Noctis finally looks up at his surroundings. The first thing he sees is this little... _Machine_ , thing, floating in front of his face. It reminds him of a weird kind of three-dimensional, four-pointed star, with a glowing blue eye in the middle. The points flare a little when Noctis looks at it, the blue 'eye' seeming to smile. 

" _You're awake! Thank the Traveler, I was starting to get worried. Are you okay?_ " 

The voice sounds male, but it's pitched higher than a man's voice would normally be. Not boyish, but still young? Noctis doesn't know; he just nods in response to the question and looks around. The buildings around him are little more than crumbled husks, ancient concrete and rusted metal beams covered in lush green vegetation. The road that cuts between the buildings has eroded into dirt, leaving room for more plants to creep up from the cracks and overtake the line of old cars that stretches as far as Noctis can see. 

"Where am I?" He finds himself asking, head swiveling around to take in everything. Off in the distance, he notices some very out-of-place purple banners hanging from the side of a more intact building and frowns. "What's that?" He points. 

The little metal creature floating in front of Noctis follows his pointing. Its 'eye' closes and it does a motion similar to a shaking head. " _There's no time to stand here and tell you everything. That banner is exactly why we need to get out of here. I'll explain what I can on the way. For now, you need to find a weapon and a safe route out of the city._ " It pauses and soundlessly floats back into Noct's field of view, grabbing his attention. " _Do you understand? Can you do that?_ " 

Noctis wants to say no, he doesn't understand, because he woke up in some post-apocalyptic universe with a talking robot floating in front of his face and he doesn't know where he is or what happened and he wants _answers_. But then there's an eerie chittering and a distorted roar from down the street, where the purple banner is, and Noctis nervously ducks behind the shell of a car. He decides answers can wait and looks at the little machine. 

"Yeah, sure. But, uhm... I have no idea what I'm doing? Or where to go?" 

" _Don't worry!_ " is the chipper response Noctis gets. " _Finding a weapon won't be too hard; the Fallen leave stuff lying around_ everywhere _. And I have a built-in navigation system, so I know where to go. I'm sure we'll be okay._ " Its 'eye' lights up and it floats a little higher, its points flaring a little. It floats back down after a moment and starts moving down the street, away from the purple banner and the weird chittering noises. " _This way!_ " 

Noctis doesn't hesitate to follow, setting pace at a light jog to keep up with the mechanical star. It moves surprisingly fast, but he doesn't have much trouble keeping up with it, even after going several blocks. There's a building they eventually stop at, one with strange rounded containers sitting outside, and even more crates stacked inside. 

The little machine floats up to a pile of crates and flares its points, a blue flash of light scanning the boxes. It lets out an excited trill and spins to face him. " _There's weapons in these! Grab what you can carry and let's go._ " 

Despite the fact that the faceplate of his helmet is tinted, Noctis raises a brow and eyeballs the crates, the dark grey metal looking very out of place as the only clean thing in a mess of ruined concrete and overgrown plants. "Why do I need them anyways?" He asks, even as he steps forward and starts digging through a crate. "You said the city is dangerous, but why? What's out here?" He picks up a bulky gun that might be a shotgun and holsters it before turning his head towards his little robot companion. "And what are you, anyways?" 

" _I'm a Ghost,_ " it says matter-of-factly, its voice tinged with pride. " _I'm tasked with finding my Guardian,_ you _, and helping them protect the Light, and the last of humanity. And that loud noise you heard earlier? That came from a creature called the Fallen. They want to kill you and take your Light, so you need to kill them back and get out of here._ " 

Noctis still doesn't really understand, but he still has some sense of self-preservation and is willing to put getting answers on hold, at least until he can reach someplace safe. 

Unfortunately, he doesn't reach someplace safe until days later, when, battered, bruised, and tired, he finally escapes the destroyed city. His legs all but give out when his Ghost gives him the all clear, armored knees hitting the cracked pavement of an old road as his shoulders sag and the shotgun he'd procured days earlier falls from his hands. He paws at his helmet and tiredly pulls it off, breathing out a sigh of relief as fresh air cools the sweat on his face. 

" _Rest here for a bit_ ," the Ghost says as it floats around Noctis's head. " _I need to find us a ship to get out of here; hopefully there's one nearby..._ " It wanders off over the ruined cars, blue light occasionally flashing out to scan something. Noctis watches it go, then heaves himself up with a tired sigh and looks around at his surroundings for the first time. 

He's in a thinning forest, most of the trees half-dead and fallen to the side. The closer to the city, the thinner they get until there's nothing but barren dirt, almost as if someone had purposefully cleared the area to keep an eye on anything coming in. The road he stands in was once four lanes, two into the city and two out. But all four lanes are occupied with vehicles that were pointed away, like there was once a massive rush of people leaving. Judging from the amount of cars, and the skeletal bodies both inside and out on the road, a lot of people didn't make it out. 

But that led Noctis to wonder why he was in the city. He couldn't remember anything before waking up with his Ghost, and he hadn't seen a single person on his way out of the city. Everything was so _old_ ; Noctis couldn't piece together why he'd been there. 

" _Eyes up, Guardian!_ " 

Noctis jumps at the sudden voice by his ear, spinning around to see his Ghost. It flares its points and spins them around, bobbing away a little, like it was trying to motion for Noct to follow. 

" _I found us a ship!_ " it says in an excited voice. It fully turns away from Noctis and starts flying down the road. " _It's old, and not in very good condition, but it still runs. Hopefully it can get us to the Last City. Or at least get us part of the way there._ " 

Noct quickly straps the shotgun to his back and holds his helmet under his arm, jogging to catch up with the Ghost. "What's the Last City?" 

The Ghost makes a noise that sounds like amused chuckle. " _The name says it all, Guardian. It's_ the _Last City, the only safe city humanity has left on Earth._ " 

"The _only_ city?" Noctis frowns. "What about the one we were just in? What happened to it?" 

The little machine slows a little, but doesn't stop moving. " _The Collapse happened._ "

"Okaaaaay. What's that?" 

" _It's... A long story_ ," the Ghost answers, sounding downcast. " _I can explain in more detail once we're safe, but it's basically what it sounds like. Humanity collapsed after a long, prosperous period of advancement, and this is what's left, hundreds of years later_." 

"Wait, then... Where did I come from?" Noctis questions. "Because there wasn't any signs of human life in that city." 

The Ghost spins and looks over Noctis's shoulder, then turns and looks up the road, then looks back at Noct and sags like it's sighing. " _Guardians like yourself are chosen by the Traveler because you have a stronger affinity to the Light than normal people do. The Traveler does not discriminate between the living and the dead when it choses its Guardians._ " Noctis shakes his head and frowns, but the Ghost keeps going. " _The Light in Guardians is what lets us, your Ghosts, revive you from death, as many times as you need._ " 

Noctis has a hard time trying to take in what he was just told. His free hand, the one not cradling his helmet, comes up and runs through his hair, pushing it away from his face and then gripping it tightly. "What, so you mean... I was _dead_? And now I'm not? I won't _ever_ be dead?" 

There's a moment of silence between them as Noctis tries to wrap his head around everything and his Ghost spins its points, decidedly not looking at him. 

" _There are... Ways for you to die a permanent death, but... I do not recommend any of them._ " It moves to Noct's face and gently pushes against his cheek. He gets the feeling that it's trying to be comforting. " _There are people in the Last City who can help you, if you need it. Let's just focus on getting there, and then you can have all of your questions answered more thoroughly. Okay?_ " 

Noctis is quiet as he reluctantly nods, expression hardened and closed-off. Then he tightens his grip on his helmet, squares his shoulders, and soldiers on ahead. 

\--- 

The ship the Ghost had found really _was_ in bad condition. There were holes rusted through the hull and the windscreen on the front was smashed, pieces of the glass lying all over the floor of the cockpit. Several components from the dashboard were also missing, as well as something his Ghost called a 'warp core'. 

" _It just means we won't be leaving Earth anytime soon,_ " the Ghost had explained, upon Noctis asking what it meant. He sits in the cockpit seat that is somehow still intact and looks over the mangled dashboard. There are some buttons and levers missing, but Noctis doesn't know what any of it does. 

"Uh, Ghost?" He asks cautiously, resting his hands on what he's assuming is the flight controls. "I don't know the first thing about flying." 

" _That's fine,_ " it answers, floating in through the shattered windshield and hovering in front of the dashboard. " _I can pilot for now, though it won't be the smoothest of rides. This tech wasn't made for a Ghost interface._ " 

There's a flash of blue as the Ghost flares its points out, and the ship sputters to life. The lights on the dashboard flicker for a few seconds before holding a weak glow. The ship slowly starts to rise from the ground, and Noctis is quick to put his helmet back on, right before it takes off with a sudden burst of speed. He grips the arms of the cockpit's chair and squeezes his eyes shut against the blur of passing trees and the feeling of a sudden altitude change. Somewhere in his helmet, hooked into the comms, he hears his Ghost laugh. 

" _This is much better with a windscreen and a functioning pressure rig, I promise._ " 

Noctis slowly works up the courage to open his eyes and is greeted with the sight of his Ghost hovering in front of his face, facing the missing windshield. Its points are still flared, and he notices that they shift with the ship's movements, turning and rotating with every small adjustment. 

When Noct looks out past his Ghost, the sight of a pink and orange sunset over white-capped mountains is what greets him, and it takes his breath away. The setting sun turns the snow on the mountains a soft orange and throws the clouds in the sky into an array of purples and pinks and more orange. Noctis finds himself leaning forward in his seat, despite the wind that buffets his scraped-together armor. 

" _There's another mountain range after this one that we must cross before we can reach the Tower, but it shouldn't take too long to get there. An hour, maybe._ " 

"I just hope the ship holds up," Noctis says, and his Ghost trills in response. 

" _Yeah, but we got this high without any major incidents, so I think we'll be fine. For now, just enjoy the view!_ " 

Noctis leans back in the seat and plans on doing just that, but he soon finds himself falling asleep instead. It's not much of a surprise, he hadn't really found any time to stop and rest while running from the Fallen, and it's the first time in days that he's been able to sit and let his guard down. So when he finds himself slipping away, he doesn't fight it. 

\--- 

When Noctis wakes, he's not in the ship anymore. The first thing he registers is that he's in a bed and his armor is missing. It sends him into high alert, and he's flying out of the bed before he's even fully awake. There are voices around him, but Noctis can't make out what they're saying over the roar of adrenalin in his ears. In the absence of any weapons, he finds himself curling his fingers around some sort of energy that builds up in his palm, energy that crackles and smells faintly like ozone. 

Noct is ready to throw it at his attackers and run when his Ghost is suddenly in his face. 

" _Calm down, Guardian,_ " it says, voice steady and comforting. " _You're safe. There's nothing to fear here. You fell asleep in the ship and couldn't be woken; the Vanguard thought it best to let you rest. You're safe here._ " 

The fight leaves Noctis's body in a rush, leaving him shaking and tired. The ball of energy, some sort of blue electricity, fades from his hand. There are other people in the room, he notices, before he sits back on the bed and drops his head into his hands. 

"Guardian?" 

Noctis looks up and sees a woman standing a couple paces away. She stands tall, with her hands behind her back and her purple robes smoothed to perfection. A glowing band is wrapped around her left arm, its purple and blue light reflecting softly on her warm brown skin. 

She tilts her head to Noctis and brings her hands to her sides, taking on a more relaxed and friendly pose. "Are you well, Guardian? Your Ghost says you've been through much in the past week." 

It takes Noct a couple seconds to respond. His head is still fuzzy with sleep and it struggles to keep up. "Uh, yeah, I'm fine, I guess. Why do you keep calling me 'Guardian'? My name is Noctis." 

The woman gives him a kind smile. "Noctis. It is a pleasure to meet you. I am Ikora Rey, Warlock Vanguard, and I would be happy to answer any questions you might have." 

Noctis is hesitant at first, because he doesn't know this woman and doesn't really want to trust her. He wants to go back to sleep and hope this was all just a really weird dream. But then his Ghost pushes up against his cheek and chirrups at him. He brings a hand up to hold it there for a second, then nods and brings his hand down to his lap, letting the little robot sit in his palm. 

\--- 

It's hours later when Ikora excuses herself from Noctis's room, the young Guardian having ran out of questions to ask. His head swims with all the new information, and he feels kind of shell-shocked with the knowledge that he was part of a group that basically safeguards what's left of humanity. It leaves him sitting on the edge of his bed, staring at the wall as he tries to sort through what he learned. His Ghost sits quietly in his hands, the cool metal of its shell helping to ground him. 

" _Are you okay?_ " it asks, rising up from Noct's hands and floating quietly in front of him. " _I have audio recording capabilities. I can play back any part of your conversation with Ikora, if you need me to. I know it was a lot to take in._ " 

Noctis shakes his head and offers the Ghost a small smile. "I'll keep that in mind, but I'm fine right now. It's just..." He sighs and flops back onto the bed, dragging his hands down his face. "A lot of really heavy info in a small timespan." 

His Ghost appears in front of his face, staring down at him. " _Are you sure? It's my duty as your Ghost to make sure you're in good mental and physical health. I can play you music, or order you some dinner. I can even find other Guardians for you to network with, should you be in need of companionship._ " 

Noctis huffs a laugh through his nose and smirks. "Thanks, little guy, but I'm good." There's a moment where he's silent, then he hums thoughtfully, bringing his hands up to lightly grasp two of the Ghost's points. "I think you need a proper name, though. I don't wanna keep calling you by what you are." 

The little robot's points flare a little, coming off as surprised. " _You... You want to give me a name?_ " 

Noct nods and quirks a brow. "Is that weird?" 

" _Some Guardians do give their Ghosts names, yes. It's just... Not very commonplace._ " Its points flare a little more and they twirl around its eye. " _However, I would be honored if you give me a name._ " There's a distinct layer of happiness in the Ghost's voice, and it makes Noctis grin. 

"Alright then! How about..." He worries his lower lip as he thinks. "How about Carbuncle?" 

It trills. " _Carbuncle?_ " Noctis smiles and nods. The Ghost does a full-body spin and trills again. " _It is now in my database! I am Carbuncle! It's a pleasure to meet you, Guardian Noctis!_ " 

Noctis laughs and sits up, holding out his hand for Carbuncle to land in. "It's a pleasure to meet you too, Ghost Carbuncle."


End file.
